Man suspected in pipe bomb incident at south Sacramento school arrested, deputies say
Sheriff’s investigators arrested a man on charges connected to a pipe bomb and a loaded homemade gun found near the front office of a south Sacramento elementary school early this month.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians and deputies identified Gustavo Aguilar of Sacramento as the suspect connected to the March 2 incident at Ethel I. Baker Elementary School, according to a news release.
Sheriff’s officials said Aguilar, 57, was arrested on four felony charges and released a few hours later from Sacramento County Main Jail after posting a $25,000 bail bond. Jail records indicated Aguilar was released Wednesday.
Investigators do not believe there are any other suspects in connection with the incident. Sheriff’s officials on Wednesday did not release any further information about the investigation or Aguilar’s arrest.
There was no indication from the Sheriff’s Office whether Aguilar’s arrest is connected to a second pipe bomb that was found at the same school a few weeks later.
On March 2, the pipe bomb and the homemade gun, also known as a “zip gun,” were found on the sidewalk just outside the front office before students arrived on campus, sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Rodney Grassmann has said.
At the time, nearly 50 students would go to the campus to participate in distance learning. Staffers from the Boys and Girls Club work with these students at the school along Laurine Way, just south of Fruitridge Road.
A Boys and Girls Club staffer spotted the bomb and the gun about 8:20 a.m. The principal called authorities and was on campus to turn away students before they entered the school, according to Tara Gallegos, a Sacramento City Unified School District spokeswoman. The pipe bomb and the gun were found near an auxiliary campus entrance.
Grassmann said the metal pipe with a fuse was found with metal shrapnel, gasoline and fireworks with gun powder inside, and the gun was loaded with a 12-gauge round. He said the bomb and the gun had been left there in plain sight directly in the path the students would use when arriving on campus.
The sheriff’s bomb squad retrieved the pipe bomb and safely destroyed it.
About 7 a.m. on March 19, the Sheriff’s Office announced deputies were Baker Elementary School for a report of a “suspicious device” that had been found. The sheriff’s bomb squad arrived and “disabled the device and rendered it safe.” No other devices were found.
The district confirmed “a homemade pipe bomb” was found near the school on an adjacent street sidewalk. The pipe bomb was found by staff at the campus and no students were at the school at that time, district officials have said.
